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San Diego council candidate fined for improper use of campaign funds

Kelvin Barrios, a candidate for the San Diego City Council in District 9.
(Kelvin Barrios, a candidate for the San Diego City Council in District 9.
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One of the leading candidates to replace Georgette Gómez on the San Diego City Council next year has admitted to unlawfully buying food and clothes with money he controlled as a campaign treasurer in 2016 and 2017.

Kelvin Barrios, who has been active with the local Democratic Party for years, has agreed to pay more than $4,000 in fines for making nearly $8,000 in illegal expenditures and for failing to keep adequate records of campaign finances.

Several potential candidates have emerged for safely Democratic seat, one of five that will be up for competition.

Sept. 17, 2019

The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission ruled last week that his actions violate the California Political Reform Act. Barrios admitted to the wrongdoing and agreed to pay the fines, rather than fight the charges.

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Barrios, a former council staffer for Gómez and the director of government affairs for Laborers Local 89, is considered one of the frontrunners to replace Gómez, who announced in September she will run for U.S. Congress next year.

Barrios received a key endorsement last month from the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, an umbrella group for more than 100 local labor unions.

Other candidates in the race include community college trustee Sean Elo, Kevin Alston, Sam Bedwell, Andrew Gade, Johnny Lee, Ross Naismith and Alejandro Soto.

Barrios previously served as treasurer for the California Young Democrats Latino Caucus and for Michael D. Jackson, who ran unsuccessfully in 2016 for a seat on the board governing the Chula Vista Elementary School District.

While working for the caucus, Barrios had access to its bank account, had a debit card and had the authority to write checks on behalf of the caucus.

An investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission found that he wrote nine checks to himself totaling $1,775 in 2016 and 2017, and used the debit card to make expenditures or cash withdrawals totaling another $798.

He spent the money on food at restaurants, parking and other expenses.

The probe found that in late 2017 Barrios partially reimbursed the caucus $1,500 of the $2,573 he had used for personal expenditures.

Barrios told the commission he used the caucus money because he was compensating himself for services he had performed, but the commission said there was no evidence to back that up.

“Barrios could provide no invoices or communications to support his assertion,” the commission said in its decision. “The lack of record keeping further obfuscates Barrio’s use of committee funds.”

While working for Jackson, Barrios used a campaign debit card for $3,140 in expenditures and wrote himself checks totaling $2,083.

The investigation, which analyzed banking records, found that he spent the money on food at local restaurants, clothes at the Men’s Wearhouse and postage stamps.

Barrios partially reimbursed the campaign $2,000 in late 2016, but then spent nearly $1,200 more.

Barrios must pay $4,000 in state fines for using the caucus money and the Jackson campaign money for personal use. He also must pay part of a joint $2,000 fine levied on himself and Jackson for not keeping adequate records of campaign finances.

Barrios said in a written statement that he made errors.

“As a campaign manager, I chose to serve candidates and community organizations with limited funds — with no ability to pay for a campaign attorney or professional treasurer,” Barrios said in a written statement. “As a result, I made reporting and reimbursement mistakes that I take responsibility for. I have participated fully with the FPPC to ensure that the errors I unknowingly committed were made right, and I move forward more determined than ever to serve my community with honesty and integrity.”

Jackson said in a written statement he believes the mistakes “were made in the absence of experienced legal advice.” He said Barrios was not fully paid for the work he did on his campaign.

A labor council official also said the group is sticking with its endorsement of Barrios.

“Kelvin is a community leader who served grassroots campaigns without the ability to hire professional treasurers or big money attorneys,” said Katelyn Hailey, the council’s campaign director. “He has made good on his mistakes and we stand by him.”

After the fines paid by Barrios were announced, Sean Elo, one of Barrios’ rivals in the council race, announced a proposal for a broad set of ethics reforms.

The proposal includes lobbying restrictions, disclosures on campaign ads, public financing of elections, strengthening the city’s Ethics Commission and additional ethics training.

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